JPH0738125A - Solar cell manufacturing method and apparatus, and amorphous silicon deposition method and deposition chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Modified) [Purpose] Solar cells in which adjacent layers formed of amorphous semiconductor materials of different conductivity types are deposited in separate glow discharge chambers. The manufacturing method and apparatus of [Structure] Amorphous semiconductor is deposited on a substrate by a deposition chamber 2
4, 26 and 28. Chamber 24,
26 and 28 are separated from each other so as to prevent the components of the individual reaction gas mixtures from mixing with each other, and have a narrow slit through which the substrate can pass to surround the substrate to prevent mutual mixing and contamination. Separations 76 and 78 are used. In this way, a battery having an amorphous silicon layer having good electric characteristics can be obtained.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a solar cell in which adjacent layers formed of amorphous semiconductor materials of different conductivity types are deposited in separate glow discharge chambers separated from each other, and Regarding the device. 2. Description of the Related Art Photoelectric devices having a structure for converting solar radiation into usable electric energy are known. One such device is a silicon solar cell with a multi-layer body of doped amorphous silicon. A method of continuously depositing doped layers in a glow discharge chamber to make such solar cells and cell structures is described in US Pat. No. 4,226,898. According to this patent, the doped and intrinsic layers of amorphous material are formed in a single vacuum chamber within the housing. Then, a reaction gas mixture containing various impurities (when forming an impurity-doped layer) and a reaction gas mixture containing no impurities (when forming an intrinsic layer) are sequentially introduced into the chamber through a plurality of conduits. Batch processing schemes in a single chamber limit the optimization and production rate of the final cell structure more than desired. Creating a multi-layered solar cell with adjacent layers (including intrinsic layers) made of different types of materials in a single glow discharge chamber requires complex controls and time-consuming techniques . In particular, decompression and heating are performed individually to manufacture each battery, and cooling is performed after depositing each layer, which significantly increases the average time for manufacturing the battery. Furthermore, contamination of the intrinsic layer between layers formed of different types of materials due to undesired processing and other factors must be avoided for optimal cell operation. In order to do so, in the single chamber method, it is necessary to exhaust gas midway to avoid cross contamination. The above-mentioned drawbacks and other disadvantages of the prior art are in accordance with the invention that adjacent layers of amorphous semiconductor material having different electrical properties are deposited on the substrate in separate environmentally isolated glow discharge regions. Can be overcome by Each of these isolated areas may contain a predetermined reaction gas mixture and may be a plurality of adjacent chambers separated from each other to avoid cross-contamination. Substrates are sequentially advanced or transported in isolated areas or chambers to deposit adjacent layers having different electrical characteristics required for individual cell constructions. The substrate may be a continuous web such as stainless steel,
This is provided in a substantially continuous, isolated area or chamber in which the layers are deposited to obtain the desired cell structure. A mask may be used if required for a particular battery geometry. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows various steps in one embodiment of the continuous solar cell manufacturing system according to the present invention. Substrate 10 may be formed of any desired material upon which amorphous silicon may be deposited and may be transparent or opaque to incident solar radiation. Also, the substrate 10 may be a web or individual plates such as metal foil, metal, glass or polymer carried by the transport mechanism. When a metal or polymer such as stainless steel or aluminum, the web can be supplied from a semi-continuous source such as a large roll. When fed from a continuous web, the substrate is passed through a perforator 12 to advance the substrate 10 to longitudinally integrate the subsequent steps and to provide longitudinal reference marks at opposite ends of the web. A sprocket hole may be drilled along. Of course, perforations and sprocket holes may not be used and edge guides or other alignment devices may be used. After drilling,
Substrate 10 is transported into an anodizing bath where it is formed of aluminum and, if desired, where an aluminum oxide insulating layer 16 (see FIG. 4) is deposited on the substrate, in particular on the surface to be deposited. It is formed. If stainless steel is used as the substrate and an insulating layer is desired, for example Si
O ₂ , Si ₃ N _4, etc. can be deposited. next,
A series of base contacts is optionally formed on the insulating layer. The base contact can be longitudinally aligned with the sprocket holes so that proper positioning of the base contact can be achieved. In FIG. 4, two of these base contacts are labeled 18 and 2.
It is indicated by 0. The arrangement of the base contacts can be chosen as shown in FIG. 1 or other depending on the series or parallel connection arrangement required for a given battery. The device 22 for forming this base contact is conventional and typically involves the application of a mechanical or lithographic mask, followed by formation of the base contact and subsequent mask removal.
The actual formation of the base contact can be done by methods known in the art, such as evaporation, sputtering, silk screening, printing, etc., details of which will be unnecessary for the person skilled in the art. The conductive substrate can be used as it is as a common electrode without forming an insulating layer and a base contact, so that the step of forming the insulating layer and the base contact and the masking step can be omitted.
In this case, all the batteries are connected in parallel with the substrate that will be the common electrode (see FIG. 5). When a glass substrate or a polymer substrate is used, the insulating layer may not be formed. The drilling, anodization and base contact formation, if they are performed, operate on the same moving substrate and may be performed sequentially using sequentially arranged equipment, but these steps may be performed on separate equipment. Alternatively, the continuous web substrate may be wound up after each step. Significant deposition of amorphous silicon onto the substrate 10 occurs in the deposition chambers 24, 26 and 28 shown in FIGS. An example of the inside of the chamber 24 is shown in FIG. Although three separate chambers are shown in FIG. 2, one large chamber is suitably partitioned into individual deposition areas, each of which is of an individual conductivity type (eg n-type, P-type or It may be used only for depositing (intrinsic) amorphous silicon. Each deposition area is defined by the length of the chamber or a plurality of separate chambers depending on the thickness of the deposition layer and the deposition rate. All illustrated deposition areas are separated from each other. This deposition system consists of a plasma of an individual reaction gas mixture, a P-type layer of amorphous silicon, an intrinsic layer and n
The shaping layer (or vice versa) is applied by glow discharge. By depositing each layer separately, a battery having an amorphous silicon layer with good electrical properties is obtained. After depositing the amorphous silicon layer, a top contact layer 30 for collecting the current generated by the photovoltaic cell is deposited on the uppermost silicon layer (FIG. 4). This layer 3
0 is formed of a transparent material to pass radiation energy through each silicon layer when substrate 10 is opaque. Commonly used transparent conductive materials are indium-tin oxide, tin oxide or indium oxide. In the case of a cell formed on a transparent substrate, the structure may be a top conducting oxide (TCO) on the substrate and an opaque contact on the top layer. As is well known to those skilled in the art, in most cases the top contact layer is not sufficiently conductive to collect current from a large area battery.
A current collecting grid made of a suitable metal is used with the TCO. If the cells are electrically isolated (not connected in parallel by the common layer), then metal connections 31 can be additionally applied to connect the individual cells in series or in parallel (FIG. 4). Since the amorphous silicon layer is highly reflective of visible solar radiation, much of the incident energy is reflected. To prevent this energy loss, an antireflection (AR) layer 32 is formed (FIG. 6). This AR layer reduces the amount of light reflected. The AR layer can be formed of a dielectric material such as zinc sulfide, zirconium oxide, silicon nitride and titanium oxide. However, when TCO is used as the top contact layer, the thickness of the TCO layer can be chosen so that it acts as the top contact and AR layer. This simplifies the battery structure and manufacturing process. The deposition device 34 shown in FIG.
The 0 and AR layers 32 are to be deposited if they are used. Although these depositions complete the solar cell structure, it is desirable to laminate to protect it from physical damage. Laminator 36 applies protective webs 38 and 40 to the front and back surfaces of the substrate on which all elements of the solar cell structure are formed. Once this laminating process is over, the solar cells can be connected to the outside and the web substrate, if used, is cut as required to supply the desired voltage and current. In this way, a continuous strip is provided and an economical production of solar cells is achieved. The important point in this invention is the deposition chamber 2 shown schematically in FIG.
Amorphous silicon deposition in 4, 26 and 28. Three separate deposition chambers are shown for sequentially depositing P-type amorphous silicon layer 42, intrinsic amorphous silicon layer 44 and n-type amorphous silicon layer 46 (FIG. 4). As already mentioned, the chambers 24, 2
6 and 28 are isolated from each other to avoid mixing the components of the individual reaction gas mixtures. Deposition may be done in the reverse order. The layer arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is for light incident from the top. When a transparent substrate is used instead of the opaque substrate 10, incident light is received from the substrate side (Fig. 6). Furthermore, a Schottky barrier or M-I-S can be used if desired (seventh).
Figure). That is, the number and length of the deposition chambers or regions, their location and the material to be deposited can be selected according to the desired solar cell structure. An example of the deposition chamber 24 is shown in more detail in FIG. In FIG. 3, the substrate 10 moves toward the viewer of the drawing. The housing 48 encloses the deposition chamber,
As will be described below, the substrate 10 is entered substantially continuously.
To leave. The heater 50 may be a large area infrared heater located near the substrate 10 (FIG. 3). Deposition occurs on the opposite surface of substrate 10. Substrate heating and its temperature control were filed in the US by Robert F. Edgerton at the same time as the “Apparatus for Regulating Substrate Temperature in a Continuous Plasma. It can be performed by the method and apparatus described in the US application entitled "Deposition Process". The processing charge gas is deposited on the substrate 10 from, for example, a pair of manifolds 52 and 54 having openings that guide the gas as a flow along the surface of the substrate 10 in a direction orthogonal to the direction of travel of the substrate and toward the center of the substrate. Supplied to the side. Alternatively, the reaction gas may be, for example, Massachus Is, Timothy J. Barnard, and David A. Gutsso (David A. Gusso) in the United States at the same time as the present case.
"Cathode for."
It can be uniformly guided by the device described in the US application entitled "Generating a Plasma". The gas supplied to the reaction chamber is preferably SiF ₄ and hydrogen, and argon or other gases such as US Pat. No. 4,226,898 or at the same time as the Vincent Day Canela in the US.
D. Cannella) and Masatozu Is filed an inert dilution such as an inert gas described in a US application entitled "Improved Method for Plasma Deposition of Amorphous Material". It may contain gas. A uniform gas flow is desired, and thus a large number of openings are formed in the manifold, which can be provided substantially parallel to and adjacent the deposition side of the substrate. The exhaust port 56 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown), by which the consumed gas is exhausted to maintain pressure balance. An electrode 58 is placed away from the substrate 10 and a plasma is generated between them. Gas is discharged through the electrode 58, preferably through a plurality of openings 60, to maintain a uniform flow. In the plasma, the processing gas is mainly a silicon fluoride-hydrogen gas mixture, and various species such as SiF ₄ , SiF ₃ , SiF ₂ , SiF and other species containing hydrogen such as SiHF, SiHF ₂ , SiHF ₃ etc. Further, it includes a doping component well known in the art. As will be appreciated by those in the art, some of these species are transitional. The vacuum or vacuum achieved at the exhaust port 56 provides a pressure such that the glow discharge plasma can be maintained at the surface of the substrate 10. Pressures in the range 0.1 to 3 torr are preferred. The substrate 10 is grounded, but the electrode 58 is connected to a power supply 62 that supplies electrical energy to generate and maintain glow discharge plasma near the substrate 10 on which the amorphous silicon layer is deposited. Power supply 62
Is typically an AC power supply operating in the radio frequency range, but may be a DC power supply operating at a voltage that produces glow discharge plasma. If radio frequency power is desired, the power supply may operate at low power, 50 to 200 kilohertz, for example, as described in the third-mentioned US application. In addition to the supply power for generating glow discharge plasma, the power supply 62 can apply a DC bias between the electrode and the substrate 10 to control the substrate bias. The DC bias applied across the plasma provides better control of the amorphous silicon deposition process from the plasma. When making discrete or strip cells, it may be necessary to mask the surface of the substrate so that the plasma deposits amorphous silicon only on the desired portions. This mask can be performed by a mask belt 64 (FIG. 2) that moves close to the surface of the substrate 10. Alignment can be done through holes formed in the edge of the substrate, allowing the mask 64 to be properly positioned with respect to the substrate. The strip batteries can be arranged parallel to the direction of travel of the substrate through each chamber, in which case longitudinal alignment is not required. The mask 64 is a continuous strip-shaped mask and includes a guide roll 65 (second
Move around). The inactive portion 63 (FIG. 2) below the mask belt 64 may be located below the electrode 58. Since the mask belt has a large open area, it does not interfere with the flow of exhaust gas from the exhaust port 56 to the vacuum pump. The deposition chambers 24, 26 and 28 are similar to each other, and the deposition chambers 26 and 28 are respectively mask belts 66 and 68 which move in the advancing direction of the substrate 10.
Is equipped with. Although each deposition chamber 24, 26 and 28 may have the same structure, the composition of the plasma generated within each is somewhat different depending on the type of layer deposited on each. The gas supplied to the manifold may be different depending on each deposition chamber, but the supply gas to each chamber is the same and the doping gas, for example, n
Phosphine (PH ₃ ) which gives the conductivity type or diborane (B ₂ H ₆ ) which gives the p conductivity type may be supplied. For example, a separate dope gas source in an inert gas such as argon can be provided. Since it is desirable that the flow of the gas supplied to the deposition surface of the substrate 10 be uniform, the gas is supplied into the manifolds 52 and 54 when a mixed gas source of the doping gas and the inert gas is separately provided. It is preferred that they be mixed before being discharged through the opening. Each deposition chamber 24, 26 and 28
The residence time of the substrate 10 therein depends on the deposition rate and the thickness of the layer to be deposited. For example, when making a P-I-N device, the thickness of each layer is 50-200Å, 2
It can be 000-6000Å and 100-500Å. That is, in continuous web systems, the different deposition areas are of a length proportional to the thickness to be deposited. The thickness of the deposited layer is described, for example, in the US application filed at the same time by Robert F. Edgerton in the United States under the name "Optical Methods for Controlling Layer Thickness". Can be monitored and controlled by the method and apparatus. Controllers 70, 72 and 74 are connected to control process variables in each deposition chamber 24, 26 and 28, such as amorphous silicon plasma deposition feed gas and dope gas, respectively. Also,
The vacuum pump is also controlled to maintain the proper pressure level to maintain proper plasma discharge equilibrium and the heater temperature is also controlled. In this way, continuous manufacturing can be performed. This system can be operated by slowly and continuously advancing the substrate, or by circulating the required portion of the substrate from one step to the next. Each deposition chamber must have a controlled gas atmosphere to provide the exact conditions for amorphous silicon deposition and to achieve the proper doping or doping level. Although the slits through which the substrate 10 enters and exits each chamber are narrow, means for preventing mutual mixing and contamination are required. This means is provided by separating members 76 and 78 which have a narrow slit through which the substrate 10 can pass and which surrounds the substrate. The slits in each separation member may be evacuated or may be flushed with an inert gas such as argon to remove all reaction gas from the substrate 10 passing through the separation member. For example, the above-mentioned separating member may be installed in
It may also be the isolation valve described in the US patent filed under the name "Isolation Valve" by David A. Gattuso. In FIG. 2, the supply and withdrawal are shown as taking place in a vacuum chamber, but in a fully continuous system the substrate would enter and exit the other process chambers. Separation members may also be required at the inlet of 24 and the outlet of chamber 28. Thus, separation of the chambers is achieved and controlled and balanced operation in each chamber with continuous inflow of amorphous silicon deposition feed gas and controlled inflow of dope gas and vacuum removal of consumed reaction gas. Are maintained so that stable plasma and deposition conditions are maintained in each chamber. 4 to 7 show four examples of solar cells manufactured according to the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a plurality of P-I-
A solar cell with an N cell 80 is shown. The substrate 10 may be a metal or an insulator. The battery 80 may be formed in strips separated from each other by the mask described above. An insulating layer 16 is deposited on the metal substrate 10, but this may be omitted if the substrate is an insulator. A plurality of base contacts (two of which are shown at 18 and 20) are deposited on the insulating layer 16. Subsequent deposition is the same on each contact, with P-type layer 42, then intrinsic layer 44 and n-type layer 46 being deposited. A top contact layer 30 such as indium-tin oxide is deposited, optionally with an AR layer. The battery may include a grid 82 for collecting current, which may be electrically connected to other batteries as desired, for example by a connecting gold layer 31. Then, the entire battery is laminated layers 38 and 40.
Protected and enclosed by. FIG. 5 shows a P-I-N type solar cell device 84 according to the second embodiment. In this device, p
Formed layer 42, intrinsic layer 44 and n-type layer 46 are applied. The individual batteries 86 are connected in parallel, mask or TC
It is defined by the photolithography of the O layer 30. Battery 86 may include a current collection grid 82 ', which may be connected as desired. FIG. 6 shows a P-I-N type battery device 88 according to the third embodiment having a transparent substrate such as glass. In this case, sunlight is shown as coming from the substrate 10. An AR layer 32 is formed on the substrate, and then a grid 90 is formed if desired. Then, p-type layer 4
2, an intrinsic layer 44 and an n-type layer 46 are formed. p
Since the shaping layer is used on the light incident side, it is desirable to provide an intermediate layer between the TCO and the p-type layer to improve electrical compatibility between them. Parallel bottom conductors 92 are then deposited on top layer 46 in the desired pattern.
FIG. 7 shows an M-I-S type device 94. An n-type layer 46 and an intrinsic layer 44 are formed on the metal substrate 10. An insulating layer 96 is formed on layer 44, and well-functioning metal contacts 98 are then formed on the individual cells. The AR layer 32 can be formed on the contact 98.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a solar cell manufacturing process of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a deposition chamber of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a partially cutaway view of the configuration of the chamber shown in FIG. 4 to 7 are sectional views showing a solar cell structure obtained according to the present invention. 10 ... Substrate, 14 ... Anodizing bath, 16 ... Insulating layer, 18,
20 ... Base contact, 24, 26, 28 ... Deposition chamber, 30 ... Top contact layer, 32 ... Antireflection layer,
38, 40 ... Protective web, 42 ... P-type amorphous silicon layer, 44 ... Intrinsic amorphous silicon layer, 46 ... N-type amorphous silicon layer, 56 ... Exhaust port, 58 ... Electrode, 60 ...
Opening, 62 ... Power supply, 64, 66, 68 ... Mask, 52,
54 ... Manifold, 76, 78 ... Separation member, 82, 8
2 ', 90 ... Grid.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Vincent Debitz Canerella Syury Youthberry, Detroit, Michigan, USA 19961 (72) Inventor Stanford Robert Ofshinski Bloomfield Yield Hills, Michigan, USA ， Squirrel Road 2700

Claims (38)

[Claims] 1. An anodized layer is formed on a strip-shaped aluminum substrate, and a series of base contacts are formed on the anodized surface at a distance, and amorphous silicon is formed on at least a part of each base contact from a glow discharge plasma. A continuous method for manufacturing a solar cell, comprising depositing and forming a top contact on at least a part of the deposited amorphous silicon layer. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of depositing amorphous silicon comprises depositing an impurity-doped amorphous silicon layer. 3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the step of depositing amorphous silicon comprises depositing separate layers of amorphous silicon of different conductivity types. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of depositing amorphous silicon comprises depositing a layer of intrinsic amorphous silicon. 5. The top contact is formed so as to be electrically connected to an adjacent base contact so as to connect in series adjacent solar cells that are sequentially formed. The method described. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of uniformly flowing a reaction gas containing silicon into the plasma and separating the consumed reaction gas from the plasma to maintain plasma equilibrium. the method of. 7. A strip-shaped substrate is supplied into a plurality of separate reaction chambers, a reaction gas containing silicon is continuously and uniformly flowed across the surface of the substrate during the reaction, and a desired layer is formed on the surface of the substrate. A glow discharge plasma is generated in the reaction gas for deposition, separating the reaction gas from the reaction gas in the other reaction chamber in each reaction chamber and away from the substrate and substantially to the substrate. A continuous method for manufacturing a solar cell, comprising discharging gas from the chamber at symmetrically located points. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the step of isolating each chamber comprises flowing an inert gas between adjacent chambers.
Method described in section. 9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of introducing impurities into the reaction gas. 10. A mechanism for supplying a strip-shaped substrate having a first surface, and at least a first and a second separate deposition area for sequentially accommodating the substrate, each of which has electrodes. Having a gas supply mechanism for supplying a reaction gas adjacent to the first surface of the substrate, and (c) a power supply mechanism connected to the electrode on the first surface of the substrate A solar cell comprising a mechanism for inducing a glow discharge plasma in the reaction gas to deposit a desired layer on, and (d) a mechanism for sequentially moving the substrate into separate deposition areas. apparatus. 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the gas supply mechanism is for supplying a silicon-containing gas to deposit amorphous silicon on the first surface of the substrate. 12. A conductive type amorphous silicon in which a gas supply mechanism in one deposition area supplies a gas for depositing one conductivity type amorphous silicon and a gas supply mechanism in another deposition area is different. 12. A gas for depositing the silicon is supplied to sequentially deposit silicon layers of different conductivity types on the first surface of the substrate.
The device according to the item. 13. An intrinsic silicon deposition region separate from and between the first and second deposition regions, wherein at least three amorphous silicon layers are sequentially deposited on the first surface of the substrate. A device according to claim 12, which is worn. 14. The first surface of the substrate is insulated,
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a mask is placed against the insulated surface of the substrate such that the mask defines an area of amorphous silicon deposition on the insulated surface. 15. A manifold is installed adjacent to each side edge of the substrate to define a plurality of openings, the openings being adjacent to the first surface of the substrate to guide the reaction gas. A device as claimed in claim 11 arranged. 16. An opening in the manifold directs the reaction gas from the side edge toward the center of the substrate in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of travel of the substrate, and from the manifold into the deposition chamber. A pair of substantially symmetrical exhaust ports are provided to allow the reaction gas to be substantially symmetrical with respect to the substrate to provide an equilibrium flow of reaction gas introduced and removal of consumed gas from the substrate. Flowing claims 1st
The apparatus according to item 5. 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a power source is connected to the electrodes to generate a plasma adjacent to the first surface of the substrate. 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the power supply also applies a DC control bias with respect to the substrate to the electrode.
The device according to the item. 19. The method of claim 12 wherein the deposition areas are defined by separate chambers located adjacent to each other and the substrate progresses sequentially from one chamber to the next.
The device according to the item. 20. A separation mechanism is formed between chambers so as to prevent a reaction gas in one chamber from being mixed into an adjacent chamber when a substrate moves between the chambers. The described device. 21. The substrate is a stainless steel web, the gas supply mechanism is installed in a continuous web system, and the substrate web is from a gas supply mechanism in one deposition area to a gas supply mechanism in another adjacent deposition area. 20. The apparatus according to claim 19, which is directly introduced into the solar cell to continuously produce a solar cell. 22. Supplying a substrate into a separate chamber,
Retaining the substrate having a first surface in the chamber, providing a uniform flow of a silicon-containing reactive gas that flows across the first surface of the substrate to the chamber, and energizing an electrode. Generate a glow discharge plasma adjacent to the substrate to deposit amorphous silicon on the substrate, isolate the reaction gas in the chamber from the gases in other chambers, and pass from the chamber through the electrode. Exhausting gas to maintain an equilibrium pressure in the chamber and removing the substrate from the chamber. 23. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of applying a DC bias to the substrate to the electrodes. 24. A method for depositing adjacent layers of amorphous semiconductors having different electrical properties on a substrate comprising: (a) a plurality of separated glow discharge regions each having a predetermined reaction gas mixture. To provide for use only in the deposition of amorphous semiconductors having predetermined electrical properties, by (b) separating the gas mixture between the regions, and (c) the regions within each of the regions. Activating a glow discharge deposition plasma from the gas mixture, and (d) sequentially applying the substrate to the region to deposit an adjacent layer of amorphous semiconductor having different electrical properties on the substrate. Method. 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein each glow discharge region is used only for depositing amorphous semiconductors of different conductivity types. 26. The method according to claim 24, wherein each glow discharge region is used only for the deposition of the doped semiconductor layer and the intrinsic semiconductor layer, respectively. 27. The method according to claim 24, wherein each glow discharge region is used only for the deposition of n-type, p-type and intrinsic amorphous semiconductor layers, respectively. 28. The method of claim 24, wherein each glow discharge region is a glow discharge deposition chamber. 29. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of separating each region is performed by flowing an inert gas between each adjacent region. 30. The method according to claim 24 or 28, wherein the reaction gas mixture comprises (a) a charging gas applied to the entire glow discharge region and (b) a doping gas applied to a predetermined glow discharge region. Method described in section. 31. The method of claim 30 wherein the dope gas is mixed with an inert gas for application to the glow discharge region. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the inert gas is argon. 33. The method according to claim 30, wherein the doping gas is PH ₃ . 34. The method according to claim 30, wherein the doping gas is B ₂ H ₆ . 35. A deposition chamber for depositing amorphous silicon on a substrate, a mechanism for holding a substrate having a first surface, an ingress for feeding the substrate into the chamber. A mechanism, a mechanism for providing a uniform flow of a silicon-containing reactive gas across the first surface of the substrate to the substrate, an electrode provided in the chamber facing the substrate, A glow discharge plasma is generated adjacent to the first surface of the substrate when power is applied and amorphous silicon is deposited on the substrate, gas is exhausted from the chamber through the electrode and A deposition chamber comprising a mechanism for maintaining an equilibrium pressure in the chamber and an advancing mechanism for removing the substrate from the chamber at a position away from the advancing mechanism. 36. A power supply mechanism for generating a plasma discharge is connected to an electrode, and a DC bias source for controlling a bias of the substrate with respect to the electrode is connected to the electrode and the substrate. The chamber of paragraph 35. 37. The chamber according to claim 35, wherein a manifold is provided on at least one side of the substrate, and an exhaust port is formed in the manifold to allow the reaction gas to flow uniformly from the manifold to the surface of the substrate. 38. Two manifolds are provided on opposite sides of the substrate so as to face each other, and gas flowing toward them is discharged toward the center of the substrate, and the discharge mechanism faces the center of the substrate. 38. The chamber of claim 37, wherein the chamber is arranged and symmetrical so that the reaction gas exits the exhaust mechanism from the manifold across the substrate surface.